Is Market Delta a MUST ???

kiwi_trader · Apr 17, 2007

The question I always end up asking after I try something new and exciting on my charts is:

- does it increase my expectancy.

And that would be the issue wrt Market Delta. If it doesn't increase your number of trades or your expectancy then why add complexity and potential indecision to your trading.

Good trading is generally simple.

johnpinochet · Apr 18, 2007

Quote from gurucandidate:

So, it comes down to this: MD - since it works very well in certain conditions - should be considered if it also fits ones personal style for one's tool box but it is a mistake to think of it as the holy grail.

While I am writing this I do not forget that all of us are beneficiaries of constant innovations in the industry and it is great to have forums like this for exchanging ideas with fellow traders.

Well said!

I believe I posted this earlier, but in summary, MD is a great tool or utility. The company is 100% honest and responsive. If I were speaking with someone who had never traded before and wanted to learn, I would strongly suggest that they give MD a 3 month try. They would learn more about how the market really works than if they simply went with the standard 5 min bar or candle chart and various indicators.

If you are familiar with trading and have other tools, you have to ask yourself is the extra clutter and information overload worth it? In my opinion, no. I had no positive expectancy from my use of the software whether I went with their detailed setups, or whether I faded their detailed setups.

subq · Apr 18, 2007

Quote from notouch:

MarketDelta isn't a must because it's not particularly unique. Most charting programs have an indicator that allows you to see volume traded at the bid and the ask. The only unique thing is being able to see volume at individual prices but unless you're scalping a few ticks here and there this is totally unnecessary. The underlying concepts are sound but it's overpriced compared to say Ensign and Sierra, especially as the standard charts that come bundled with it (Investor/RT) are a buggy mess so you'll need to pay for separate software.

What's buggy about Investor/RT charts?

I have no problems and I frequently have more than 35 charts open looking at different markets...mix of MP, FP(volume), and traditional charts...no problems.

Perhaps it is your hardware or you don't have things setup properly.

P.S. Investor R/T guys have a live chat session every week to help out customers and they continue to add feature requests. I have yet to see another charting application that has the feature set IRT currently has.

cmaxb · Apr 18, 2007

Quote from subq:

What's buggy about Investor/RT charts?

I have no problems and I frequently have more than 35 charts open looking at different markets...mix of MP, FP(volume), and traditional charts...no problems.

Perhaps it is your hardware or you don't have things setup properly.

P.S. Investor R/T guys have a live chat session every week to help out customers and they continue to add feature requests. I have yet to see another charting application that has the feature set IRT currently has.

It's a clunky interface. And you almost have to be a developer to manage data/symbols.

notouch · Apr 18, 2007

Quote from subq:

What's buggy about Investor/RT charts?

I have no problems and I frequently have more than 35 charts open looking at different markets...mix of MP, FP(volume), and traditional charts...no problems.

Perhaps it is your hardware or you don't have things setup properly.

P.S. Investor R/T guys have a live chat session every week to help out customers and they continue to add feature requests. I have yet to see another charting application that has the feature set IRT currently has.

There's nothing wrong with my hardware - Intel Core2Duo with 2GB RAM running Windows XP and every other piece of software runs fine. With Investor/RT I got miscalculated indicators, charts which didn't update properly and didn't scroll properly, missing data to name a few issues.

subq · Apr 18, 2007

not sure what to tell you then, it runs fine for me and I know quite a few other traders with absolutely no problems

they have the best marketprofile and volume charts around I might add

ProfLogic · Apr 18, 2007

Quote from subq:

. . . they have the best marketprofile and volume charts around I might add

Are you say that Investor/RT has Constant Volume Bar Charts?
I ask because unless they are constant (user capped) they are worthless.

subq · Apr 19, 2007

Quote from ProfLogic:

Are you say that Investor/RT has Constant Volume Bar Charts?
I ask because unless they are constant (user capped) they are worthless.

sure, you can do constant volume bars if that is your preference

they also have a nice VB indicator that you can do quite a bit with

ProfLogic · Apr 19, 2007

Quote from subq:

sure, you can do constant volume bars if that is your preference

they also have a nice VB indicator that you can do quite a bit with

As suspected I contacted LinnSoft and they told me their Volume Bars are not capped which means they are not constant.

BlowFish · Apr 19, 2007

Quote from johnpinochet:

I think the very first thing that anyone learns via the tutorials is how to see volume at any size you desire. If 100 to 500 lot trades in the ZB/ZN aren't "big boys" I don't know what is. I alternated between all volume and only volume at various levels from 100 to 500 in the ZB/ZN.

I found nothing of value by playing with the volume settings I mention above.

I think you mis-understand me. I am not talking about the size of any particular print. As an aside I think the tutorials do no favours to anyone. Imo they are at best naive and at worse based on the wrong thinking I mentioned (green = trades @ ask = buying in a nutshell).

All I am saying is that the 'smart money' will as often as not accumulate on the bid i.e passively. All a green print says is someone has just paid the ask.

Anyway I certainly wasn't talking about playing with volume settings though I do I tend to completely discard large blocks (DAX in particular I throw out anything above 250) Essentially they are not accurately reported and they scew the delta (they are negotiated outside the 'regular' order book and so not strictly part of the auction process. They are then reported in one block that may arbitrarily fall on the current bid or ask...I am pretty sure Globex has a similar mechanism not sure about CBOT).

Cheers.